The White Sox are officially in the market, but one of the more logical names for their rotation wish list just got more complicated.
With free agency opening Monday evening, Chicago can finally begin talking to players and clubs as it looks to upgrade a starting staff that needs help. But the qualifying offer deadline also changed the board, and Orioles left-hander Trevor Rogers was among the players who received one from Baltimore.
That matters for the White Sox because Rogers had already stood out as a fit. He’s a lefty, and Chicago’s current left-handed rotation options are either unproven in Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith or inconsistent in Anthony Kay. Adding a stable left-handed starter would check an obvious box for the White Sox this winter.
The catch is the draft cost. To sign Rogers, Chicago would have to give up its second-highest pick in July’s draft. That’s not as painful as it would have been in previous years because the White Sox reached the Postseason in 2026, but it would still be a meaningful hit for a club that is still leaning on young talent.
Rogers, who turns 29 later this month, has already had a career that’s taken some sharp turns. After a brief big-league stint in 2020, he broke through in 2021 with a 2.64 ERA in 25 starts and finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting.
Injuries and inconsistency followed over the next three seasons, and Baltimore acquired him at the 2024 trade deadline. Since then, he’s been excellent.
In 18 starts in 2025, Rogers put up a 1.81 ERA. He stayed healthy in 2026 for the first time in a while and finished with a 4.03 ERA across 30 starts in his contract year. Baltimore’s decision not to trade him at the deadline and then extend the qualifying offer suggests the Orioles still want him back, which could make them the biggest obstacle for any other team.
MLB Trade Rumors projected Rogers could land a deal similar to the one Ranger Suarez signed with Boston last offseason - five years, $130 million. If that’s the price, Rogers would almost certainly pass on the qualifying offer.
The White Sox, though, may be staring at a broader reality this winter: real rotation help is going to cost real money. If they go after a starter in Rogers’ tier, or someone like Freddy Peralta or Michael King, it could take the first $100 million contract in franchise history. That kind of number might sound steep, but Chicago has explored major payrolls before, floating figures close to $200 million in 2021 and 2022 during its last competitive window.
The question now is whether the White Sox would rather pay that kind of price, and whether they’d be willing to sacrifice a draft pick for Rogers when pitchers like King and Peralta wouldn’t require one.
For now, the offseason is still in its early stages, and there haven’t been any concrete rumors tying Chicago to a specific player or even a specific tier. But if the White Sox are serious about making a real upgrade to their rotation, the bill is going to be hefty.
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